Momentum the key to World Cup success for England’s cricketers

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Look away now Australian cricket fans, this oneâ€™s going to hurt like a cricket bat to the groin.Â Their team has carriedÂ their abject 2010 form into 2011 by slumping to another defeat to a rampant England side but this time in Twenty20 rather than tests.

While England notched upÂ their eighth straight victory in the shortestÂ version of cricket â€“ a new world record â€“Â the last ball defeat in Adelaide means Australia have now lost 17 of their last 24 completed matches in all forms of the game.

Australiaâ€™s major victory in that run was in the Ashes test in Perth against England to level the series at 1-1, before the Australians were destroyed like a quarter-pounder at a burger eating contest by a particularly ravenous contestant.

Three of the matches Australia have won in that time â€“ two in the one-day series in England and one against Sri Lanka in an ODI prior to the Ashes â€“ have come with the series already gone for the once mighty baggy greens.

But if England are to bring home their first 50-over World Cup form the sub-continent in the coming months the team must keep winning in Australia and carry the momentum through to the tournament, meanwhile trampling all over the current holders’ remaining spirit like an errant infant over its parentsâ€™ freshly planted tulips.

Australia have bagged the World Cup winners trophy on the last three occasions, and while they remain ranked as the best one-day side in the world, another home one-day series defeat to England, following its pre-Ashes subsidence to Sri Lanka, will surely spell the end of their dominance in the shorter form of the game.

PHOTO: England’s Chris Woakes (R) shakes hands with his captain Paul Collingwood after they won the Twenty20 limited overs match against Australia in Adelaide January 12, 2011. REUTERS/David Gray